Information processing apparatus and method, and program

ABSTRACT

An interface receives a file containing information about a plurality of characteristic words representing characteristics of television programs. A display section of an information processing apparatus displays one of the plurality of characteristic words in a different color than an other of the plurality of characteristic words. A communication section allows a selection of the one of the plurality of characteristic words. The interface transmits information about the one of the plurality of characteristic words to a recording and playback apparatus upon the selection. Further, the interface receives television program information about one of the television programs from the recording and playback apparatus in response to the information about the one of the plurality of characteristic words.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus anda method thereof as well as a software program. Specifically, thepresent invention relates to an information processing apparatus and amethod thereof as well as a software program suitably used for anapparatus which allows a user to easily retrieve intended televisionprograms for watching and listening from much information.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, the television broadcast has spread in the form of notonly surface-wave broadcast, but also satellite broadcast usingartificial satellites. Consequently, the number of channels isincreasing. Increasing the number of channels inevitably increases thenumber of television programs. There is a trend of providing televisionprograms that more properly suite the audience interests.

It is beneficial for the audience to be able to watch and listen totelevision programs that suit their interests. However, it has beendifficult and troublesome to search for the intended television programsout of a large number of television programs and out of informationabout them.

Information about television programs is provided in the forms oftelevision program guides distributed on paper media such as newspapersand EPG (Electronic Program Guide) distributed via networks. Theseguides are available in table formats comprising broadcast stationsassociated with broadcast times. Though the tabular television programguides are well designed for high visibility, the amount of informationis large. The audience feels it difficult to search for intendedtelevision programs and needs a long time for the search.

There is proposed the method of using keywords to be able to easilysearch for television programs intended by the audience. According tothis method, for example, the audience selects one or more of aplurality of predetermined keywords that match the audience's interest.Television program information including the selected keyword isextracted from the EPG and is provided to the audience.

However, the EPG is not necessarily configured to include only theinformation that accurately represents the television program contents.The use of inappropriate keywords may fail to retrieve appropriatetelevision programs using keywords. Selection of keywords may or may notsucceed in retrieving eligible television programs. For example, usingthe word “America” as a keyword fails to extract television programscontaining the word (information) “USA” though these programs concernAmerica.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in consideration of the foregoing.It is therefore an object of the present invention to enable theaudience to easily retrieve intended television programs and prevent aretrieved result from including inappropriate information.

A first information processing apparatus according to the presentinvention comprises: means for acquiring television program informationincluding information concerning television program contents; means forextracting a characteristic word representing characteristics of thetelevision program from the television program information; first meansfor creating a first file containing the characteristic word extractedfrom television program information about a plurality of televisionprograms and providing the file to other apparatuses; and second meansfor, when receiving information from the other apparatuses, namely,information about a given characteristic word selected from the firstfile, providing the other apparatuses with television programinformation about a television program corresponding to the selectedcharacteristic word.

A first information processing method according to the present inventioncomprises: a step of acquiring television program information includinginformation concerning television program contents; a step of extractinga characteristic word representing characteristics of the televisionprogram from the television program information; a first step ofcreating a first file containing the characteristic word extracted fromtelevision program information about a plurality of television programsand providing the file to other apparatuses; and a second step of, whenreceiving information from the other apparatuses, namely, informationabout a given characteristic word selected from the first file,providing the other apparatuses with television program informationabout a television program corresponding to the selected characteristicword.

A first program according to the present invention allows a computer toperform: a step of acquiring television program information includinginformation concerning television program contents; a step of extractinga characteristic word representing characteristics of the televisionprogram from the television program information; a first step ofcreating a first file containing the characteristic word extracted fromtelevision program information about a plurality of television programsand providing the file to other apparatuses; and a second step of, whenreceiving information from the other apparatuses, namely, informationabout a given characteristic word selected from the first file,providing the other apparatuses with television program informationabout a television program corresponding to the selected characteristicword.

A second information processing apparatus according to the presentinvention comprises: means for acquiring a television program ID foridentifying a specific television program and television programinformation including information concerning television programcontents; means for extracting a characteristic word representingcharacteristics of the television program from the television programinformation; first provision means for creating a first file containingthe characteristic word extracted from television program informationabout a plurality of television programs and providing the file to otherapparatuses; and means for associating the characteristic word with atelevision program ID of a television program information correspondingto each characteristic word for storage; and second provision means for,when receiving information from the other apparatuses, namely,information about a given characteristic word selected from the firstfile, referencing the association means, reading a television program IDassociated with the selected characteristic word, and providing theother apparatuses with television program information corresponding tothe television program ID.

The characteristic word extraction means can count the number ofoccurrences of a given word contained in each of the television programinformation and extracts a word having a large count value as thecharacteristic word.

The characteristic word extraction means can analyze a sentencecontained in the television program information and extracts thecharacteristic word from a remaining part except a part corresponding toa specified prescription.

The characteristic word extraction means can extract a predeterminedword as the characteristic word.

The characteristic word extraction means can prevent a predeterminedword from being extracted as the characteristic word.

The characteristic word extraction means can determine whether or not asynonym is found in a plurality of words extracted as the characteristicwords and, when a synonym is determined to be found, converts theextracted word into a specified word and extracts it as a characteristicword.

The first provision means can determine whether or not the first filealready stores a characteristic word extracted by the characteristicword extraction means and, when already stored, does not add thecharacteristic word to the first file.

A second information processing method according to the presentinvention comprises: a step of acquiring a television program ID foridentifying a specific television program and television programinformation including information concerning television programcontents; a step of extracting a characteristic word representingcharacteristics of the television program from the television programinformation; a first step of creating a first file containing thecharacteristic word extracted from television program information abouta plurality of television programs and providing the file to otherapparatuses; and a step of associating the characteristic word with atelevision program ID of a television program information correspondingto each characteristic word for storage; and a second step of, whenreceiving information from the other apparatuses, namely, informationabout a given characteristic word selected from the first file,referencing the association step, reading a television program IDassociated with the selected characteristic word, and providing theother apparatuses with television program information corresponding tothe television program ID.

A second program according to the present invention comprises: a step ofacquiring a television program ID for identifying a specific televisionprogram and television program information including informationconcerning television program contents; a step of extracting acharacteristic word representing characteristics of the televisionprogram from the television program information; a first step ofcreating a first file containing the characteristic word extracted fromtelevision program information about a plurality of television programsand providing the file to other apparatuses; and a step of associatingthe characteristic word with a television program ID of a televisionprogram information corresponding to each characteristic word forstorage; and a second step of, when receiving information from the otherapparatuses, namely, information about a given characteristic wordselected from the first file, referencing the association step, readinga television program ID associated with the selected characteristicword, and providing the other apparatuses with television programinformation corresponding to the television program ID.

A third information processing apparatus according to the presentinvention comprises: first means for receiving a file containinginformation about a characteristic word representing a characteristic ofa television program; input means for allowing a user to select anintended characteristic word from characteristic words contained in thefile; means for transmitting information about a characteristic wordselected by the user to other apparatuses; and second means forreceiving television program information about a television programcorresponding to the selected characteristic word transmitted from theother apparatuses as a result of transmitting information about theselected characteristic word.

The first reception means can receive a file containing informationabout the characteristic word from the other apparatuses.

A third information processing method according to the present inventioncomprises: a first step of controlling reception of a file containinginformation about a characteristic word representing a characteristic ofa television program; an input step of allowing a user to select anintended characteristic word from characteristic words contained in thefile; a step of controlling transmission of information about acharacteristic word selected by the user to other apparatuses; and asecond step of controlling reception of television program informationabout a television program corresponding to the selected characteristicword transmitted from the other apparatuses as a result of transmittinginformation about the selected characteristic word.

A third program according to the present invention comprises: a firststep of controlling reception of a file containing information about acharacteristic word representing a characteristic of a televisionprogram; an input step of allowing a user to select an intendedcharacteristic word from characteristic words contained in the file; astep of controlling transmission of information about a characteristicword selected by the user to other apparatuses; and a second step ofcontrolling reception of television program information about atelevision program corresponding to the selected characteristic wordtransmitted from the other apparatuses as a result of transmittinginformation about the selected characteristic word.

According to the first information processing apparatus, the methodthereof, and the program of the present invention, the apparatusextracts characteristic words representing the television programcharacteristic from the television program information includinginformation about the television program contents. The apparatus createsa file from the extracted characteristic words and supplies it to theother apparatuses. The apparatus may receive information about a givencharacteristic word selected from the file of characteristic words. Inthis case, the apparatus provides the other apparatuses with thetelevision program information about a television program correspondingto the selected characteristic word.

According to the second information processing apparatus, the method,and the software program of the present invention, the apparatusacquires television program IDs for identifying respective televisionprograms and television program information including the informationassociated with the television program contents. The apparatus extractscharacteristic words representing the television program characteristicfrom the television program information. The apparatus creates a filefrom the extracted characteristic words, supplies it to the otherapparatuses, and associates the characteristic words with the televisionprogram IDs. The apparatus may receive information about a givencharacteristic word selected from the file of characteristic words. Inthis case, the apparatus provides the other apparatuses with thetelevision program information corresponding to the television programID associated with the selected characteristic word.

According to the third information processing apparatus, the method, andthe software program of the present invention, the apparatus receives afile including the information about characteristic words representingthe television program characteristic. The apparatus transmitsinformation about the user-selected characteristic words out of thoseincluded in the file to the other apparatuses. As a result of thetransmission, the apparatus receives the television program informationabout the television program from the other apparatuses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of an informationprocessing system according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows an internal configuration example of a server 2;

FIG. 3 shows an internal configuration example of arecording/reproducing apparatus 3;

FIG. 4 shows an internal configuration example of a television receiver4;

FIG. 5 shows a configuration example of a remote controller 71;

FIG. 6 shows files stored in a storage section 18;

FIG. 7 shows a television program information file 101;

FIG. 8 shows an association file 102;

FIG. 9 shows a characteristic word file 103;

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of a server 2;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a process of creating files;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing in detail an extraction process usingcharacteristic words at step S13;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a process for retrieving televisionprograms;

FIG. 14 shows a display of characteristic words; and

FIG. 15 shows another display of characteristic words.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in further detailwith reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows theconfiguration of an embodiment of an information processing systemaccording to the present invention. The information processing system inFIG. 1 provides users (audience) with information about televisionprograms.

The information processing system in FIG. 1 comprises: a network 1comprising the Internet, LAN (Local Area Network), and the like; aserver 2 that is connected to the network 1 and provides users withinformation about television programs; a recording/reproducing apparatus3 that is connected to the network 1, provides users with theinformation from the server 2, and provides the server 2 withinstructions from the users; and a television receiver 4 that isconnected to the recording/reproducing apparatus 3 and displaysinformation about a television program and the television programitself.

FIG. 2 shows an internal configuration example of the server 2. Theserver 2 can comprise a computer such as a personal computer. Thefollowing describes the internal configuration example of the server 2in FIG. 2. A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11 of the server 2 performsvarious processes in accordance with a program stored in ROM (Read OnlyMemory) 12. RAM (Random Access Memory) 13 appropriately stores data andprograms needed for the CPU 11 to perform various processes. Aninput/output interface 15 connects with an input section 16 comprising akeyboard and a mouse. When a signal is input to the input section 16,the input/output interface 15 outputs the signal to the CPU 11. Theinput/output interface 15 also connects with an output section 17comprising a display and a speaker.

Further, the input/output interface 15 connects with a storage section18 and a communication section 19. The storage section 18 comprises ahard disk and the like. The communication section 19 interchanges datawith other apparatuses (e.g., recording/reproducing apparatus 3) via thenetwork 1. A drive 20 is used to read data from or write data torecording media such as a magnetic disk 31, an optical disk 32, amagnetic optical disk 33, and semiconductor memory 34.

FIG. 3 shows an internal configuration example of arecording/reproducing apparatus 3. The recording/reproducing apparatus 3is also referred to as a video tape recorder (VTR) and has functions ofrecording video and audio and reproducing recorded video and audio. Theembodiment can use a conventional technology of recording andreproducing video and audio and a detailed description is omitted forsimplicity. Accordingly, FIG. 3 shows a recording/reproducing section52, i.e., a single block to perform processes concerning recording andreproduction of video and audio.

A communication section 53 is provided to communicate with the otherapparatuses via the network 1. A display section 54 comprises an LCD(Liquid Crystal Display) and the like. The display section 54 isprovided to display information, i.e., the time and states of therecording/reproducing apparatus 3 such as reproduction and recording. Aninterface 55 is provided to interchange data with the televisionreceiver 4.

A control section 56 controls the respective parts of a main body forthe recording/reproducing apparatus 3. The recording/reproducingapparatus 3 comprises the main body 51 and a remote controller 71 (to bedescribed) in FIG. 5, for example. The remote controller 71 supplies themain body 51 with user's instructions. The following description assumesthat the communication section 53 not only interchanges data with theother apparatuses via the network 1, but also receives data from theremote controller 71. Infrared rays, radio, and the like are used forthe communication between the main body 51 and the remote controller 71.

FIG. 4 shows an internal configuration example of the televisionreceiver 4. The television receiver 4 has: a display section 62comprising a cathode ray tube to display videos such as televisionprogram information; and a display processing section 63 to controldisplays of the display section 62. A communication section 64 receivesdata from the remote controller 71 that supplies a main body 61 withuser's instructions. An interface 65 is provided to interchange datawith the recording/reproducing apparatus 3. A control section 66controls respective parts of the main body 61 of the television receiver4.

FIG. 5 shows a configuration example of the remote controller 71. Theremote controller 71 may be an apparatus that supplies user'sinstructions to the recording/reproducing apparatus 3 or to thetelevision receiver 4. Alternatively, the remote controller 71 may beprovided as an apparatus common to both the recording/reproducingapparatus 3 and the television receiver 4.

For example, the remote controller 71 is provided with: a numeric keypad72 to be operated to select channels; a search key 73 to be operated tosearch for television programs; and arrow keys 74 to be operated to movea displayed cursor. When these keys are operated, the communicationsection 75 outputs a signal to supply the user's instruction to therecording/reproducing apparatus 3 and the television receiver 4. Inaddition to the keys exemplified above, the other keys may be providedto perform the other processes.

FIG. 6 shows data stored in the storage section 18 (FIG. 2) of theserver 2. A television program information file 101 contains EPG dataitself received by the communication section 19 or data extracted fromthe EPG. As shown in FIG. 7, the television program information file 101stores the following data associated with each other: a televisionprogram ID to identify each television program; a broadcast station; abroadcast date and time; a television program name; a television programcontent; a genre; and a function containing information indicatingwhether the broadcast is stereo or captioned.

The data in the television program information file 101 is acquired fromthe EPG and is updated when the EPG is distributed. For example, whenthe EPG is distributed three times a day, the data in the televisionprogram information file 101 is also updated three times a day.

As shown in FIG. 8, the association file 102 contains a televisionprogram ID and a characteristic word associated with each other. Thecharacteristic word is extracted as a word characteristicallyrepresenting the television program. The characteristic word isextracted according to a specified technique (to be described) afterreference to “television program content” of the data stored in thetelevision program information file 101. Further, it may be preferableto reference not only “television program content” but also “genre” and“function”.

There may be television programs from which the specified technique (tobe described) does not detect characteristic words. However, theembodiment need not detect characteristic words from all televisionprograms. The association file 102 in FIG. 8 shows that one term “WorldCup” is extracted as characteristic words of the television program withID “0001”. Likewise, characteristic words “fishing, black bass” areextracted for the television program with ID “0051”. Characteristicwords “fishing, sweetfish, Tama River” are extracted for the televisionprogram with ID “0052”. Characteristic words “Kyojin, Hanshin” areextracted for the television program with ID “0100”.

It is assumed that there are sequential IDs and no missing IDtherebetween. The example in FIG. 8 shows that characteristic words forIDs 0002 through 0050 are not extracted. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, aplurality of words may be extracted for each characteristic word. Ofcourse, it may be preferable to set limitations such as extracting onlyone or up to five characteristic words from one television program.

The characteristic word file 103 (FIG. 6) comprises only characteristicwords. The characteristic word file 103 is composed of data extractedfrom the association file 102. FIG. 9 shows an example of data stored inthe characteristic word file 103. The data in FIG. 9 is equivalent todata extracted from the association file 102 in FIG. 8.

The characteristic word file 103 in FIG. 9 stores such words as WorldCup, fishing, black bus, sweetfish, Tama River, Kyojin, Hanshin, and thelike. With reference to FIG. 8, for example, characteristic word“fishing” is common to both television programs with IDs “0051” and“0052”. The characteristic word file 103 stores only one such commoncharacteristic word, not two.

To create these files, the storage section 18 stores a synonymdictionary 104, a keyword dictionary 105, and a specific word dictionary106. The example here assumes that the three dictionaries are stored.Further, it may be preferable to store the other dictionaries or nodictionaries.

The synonym dictionary 104 stores words having different forms but thesame meaning such as “angling” and “fishing”. These words are associatedwith each other. For example, if word “fishing” is contained in the“television program content” for a given television program, the word isassumed to be synonymous with “angling”. Word “angling” is extracted asa characteristic word. That is to say, the synonym dictionary 104 isprovided so as not to extract words having the same meaning ascharacteristic words.

In other words, the synonym dictionary 104 is provided for the followingpurpose. The characteristic word file 103 stores only unique words, nota plurality of different words having the same meaning. As a result, theaudience can be provided with only unique words.

The keyword dictionary 105 stores words to be extracted ascharacteristic words in consideration for the common knowledge, currentaffairs, and the like. When the “television program content” contains akeyword stored in the keyword dictionary 105, that keyword is extractedas a characteristic word. In this example, it is assumed that thekeyword dictionary 105 stores keywords to be extracted as characteristicwords. By contrast, the keyword dictionary 105 may store words notextracted as characteristic words.

The specific word dictionary 106 stores words recommended to be providedfor users so as to characterize television programs or rules to extractsuch words. For example, the specific word dictionary 106 stores namesof opponent teams for television programs relaying baseball games, namesof countries that produced movies for television programs, and the like.A server administrator of the server 2 configures the specific worddictionary 106 and the keyword dictionary 105. It is possible to usecommercially available dictionaries for the synonym dictionary 104.

These dictionaries are updated as needed. Particularly, it is preferableto periodically update the keyword dictionary 105 since it stores wordsassociated with current affairs.

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of the server 2. For example, aprogram is stored in the ROM 12 or the storage section 18. When theprogram starts, the CPU 11 performs processes in accordance with theprogram to implement functions of the respective blocks. An EPGreception section 111 controls reception of the EPG received by thecommunication section 19. When the EPG is received, the EPG receptionsection 111 supplies the received EPG data to a television programinformation file generation section 112.

The television program information file generation section 112 generatestelevision program information from data in the EPG supplied from theEPG reception section 111. The television program information may be EPGdata itself or specific information extracted from the EPG data. Thegenerated television program information is stored as the televisionprogram information file 101 in the storage section 18.

The television program information generated by the television programinformation file generation section 112 is supplied to thecharacteristic word extraction section 113 and an association filegeneration section 115. The characteristic word extraction section 113extracts characteristic words from the supplied television programinformation in accordance with a specified technique. When extractingcharacteristic words, the dictionary search section 114 searches thesynonym dictionary 104, the keyword dictionary 105, or the specific worddictionary 106. The dictionary search section 114 supplies a result tothe characteristic word extraction section 113.

Characteristic words extracted by the characteristic word extractionsection 113 are supplied to the association file generation section 115and the characteristic word file generation section 116. The associationfile generation section 115 extracts television program IDs from thesupplied television program information. The association file generationsection 115 associates the extracted television program ID with thesupplied characteristic word to generate an association file 102 andstores it in the storage section 18.

The characteristic word file generation section 116 generates thecharacteristic word file 103 from characteristic words extracted by thecharacteristic word extraction section 113. The characteristic word filegeneration section 116 then stores the generated characteristic wordfile 103 in the storage section 18.

With reference to the flowchart in FIG. 11, the following describes aprocess according to the functional block diagram in FIG. 10, i.e., thegeneration process for the respective files. At step S11, the EPG datais received under control of the EPG reception section 111. When the EPGdata is received, the process starts at step S12 and later. At step S12,the television program information file generation section 112 generatesthe television program information from the received EPG data.

The generated television program information includes at least datastored as the television program information file 101 (FIG. 7) in thestorage section 18. The generated television program information isstored in the storage section 18 and is supplied to the characteristicword extraction section 113 and the association file 115. At step S13,the characteristic word extraction section 113 extracts characteristicwords.

Referring now to the flowchart in FIG. 12, the following describes indetail the process of extracting characteristic words performed at stepS13. The characteristic word extraction process based on the flowchartin FIG. 12 is performed for every one of television programs.

At step S21, the characteristic word extraction section 113 acquires arange of data to be extracted as characteristic words from thetelevision program information generated by the television programinformation file generation section 112. The range of characteristicwords to be extracted may be limited to the television program contentsonly. The range may include the other information such as televisionprogram names and genres in addition to the television program contents.

After the range of data to be processed is acquired at step S21, asentence is analyzed at step S22. During the sentence analysis at stepS22, for example, the process extracts, for example, the narration(quoted part) included in the television program content and excludesthe narration from the extraction process. It is assumed that wordsincluded in the narration hardly represent the contents of thetelevision program properly. For this reason, the sentence analysis isperformed to prevent words in the narration from being extracted ascharacteristic words.

That is to say, the statement analysis process at step S22 at leastincludes a process of excluding parts of the sentence containing wordsinappropriate for characteristic words if extracted. It may bepreferable to perform another analysis process different from thestatement analysis that excludes the narration part from the extractionprocess as mentioned above. A plurality of processes may be combined forthe analysis. Further, the statement analysis may be performed toextract characteristic words.

The following description assumes that the statement is analyzed so asto exclude parts containing words inappropriate for characteristicwords. Upon completion of step S22, the process proceeds to step S23.The process divides the part of the sentence into words. That part isdevoid of the part excluded from the process and corresponds to theremaining part eligible for the process.

The process extracts nouns from the divided words. The extracted nounsare supplied to the dictionary search section 114. The example hereextracts only nouns from the divided words because nouns are mostappropriate words for expressing characteristics of a televisionprogram.

The television program contents include many adjectives. In other words,adjectives are often used to represent the television programcharacteristics. However, adjectives are too generic and therefore areinappropriate information for retrieving intended television programsthe audience wants to watch and listen to. For example, the adjective“amusing” can be used like “amusing television program” and is supposedto be often used as the television program content (advertisingstatement of the television program). On the other hand, it is generallyimpractical to consider that the television program content includessuch an expression as “unenjoyable television program”.

That is to say, the word “enjoyable” is commonplace. If the word“enjoyable” is provided as a characteristic word for retrievingtelevision programs, the audience is given a meaningless word. If thisword is used for retrieval, it is expected that the audience is providedwith many television programs as a retrieval result. It is consideredthat adjectives are hardly available as meaningful words for theretrieval process.

The embodiment is described on the premise that adjectives are notextracted as characteristic words for the above-mentioned reason. Ofcourse, there may be an embodiment that allows adjectives to beextracted. It may be preferable to extract also adjectives during theprocess at step S23. In this case, the subsequent process may beconfigured to remove commonplace adjectives and extract specified ones.

With respect to verbs, it may be preferable to extract the verb “run” asa synonym for the noun “marathon”, for example. That is to say, afterthe sentence is divided into words at step S23, it may be preferable toextract verbs in addition to nouns as words to be passed to thesubsequent process. In this case, an extracted verb is converted into anoun and is provided to the audience instead of providing the extractedverb as is. In this manner, the uniqueness can be given to wordsprovided to the audience, making it possible to provide the audiencewith an easier-to-use system.

The process to convert verbs into nouns may be allocated to step S23 orstep S24 and any steps later on. When verbs are converted into nouns asmentioned above, the characteristic word extraction section 113 dividesa sentence into words. As a result, the dictionary search section 114 issupplied with words, i.e., verbs in this case. The dictionary searchsection 114 searches the synonym dictionary 104 (FIG. 6) and readsassociated nouns.

The search result is supplied to the characteristic word extractionsection 113. A search result may provide no associated nouns. In suchcase, the verb itself may or may not be adopted as a characteristicword. The description here assumes that parts of speech other than thenoun, adjective, and verb are excluded from the process at step S23.

As mentioned above, the process at step S23 divides the sentence intowords. The process at step S24 and later is applied to words selectedfor the process. At step S24, the characteristic word extraction section113 performs the extraction based on specific words. The specific wordsare stored in the specific word dictionary 106 and represent baseballteam names, country names, and the like. These words may be stored asspecific words in the specific word dictionary 106. Further, whenprocessing such phrase as “Kyojin versus Hanshin”, for example, thespecific word dictionary 106 may store a rule to extract nouns beforeand after the word “versus”.

At step S24, the process extracts characteristic words in accordancewith words or a rule stored in the specific word dictionary 106. At stepS25, the process extracts keywords. Words to be extracted ascharacteristic words may be those divided at step S23 and selected forthe process or may be those extracted as a result of extraction based onspecific words at step S24.

The keywords are stored in the keyword dictionary 105 (FIG. 6) andrepresent the common knowledge and current affairs as mentioned above.

When a word stored in the keyword dictionary 105 matches a word selectedfor the process, that word is extracted as a characteristic word. Bycontrast, there may be a case where a word stored in the keyworddictionary 105 does not match. In such case, that word may be configurednot to be extracted as a characteristic word, i.e., as a word notselected for the process. Which technique to select is a matter of thesystem design. It is preferable to adopt either technique suitable forthe system.

It may be preferable to categorize words stored in the keyworddictionary into two types for the extraction process. In this case, onetype is configured to include words to be treated as characteristicword; and the other not.

Upon completion of the extraction based on keywords at step S25, theprocess performs the extraction based on frequency detection at stepS26. Words used to extract characteristic words may be those divided andselected for the process at step S23 or may be only those extractedbased on the keywords at step S25.

During the extraction based on the frequency detection, the processdetects the frequency of occurrences of a word selected for the process.A word, if used more than once, is considered to represent thecharacteristic of the television program. That word is extracted as acharacteristic word. In this case, it is necessary to define the minimumfrequency such as twice so that a word is extracted as a characteristicword if that word is used twice or more.

During the extraction based on the frequency detection, a plurality ofwords may be extracted as characteristic words for one televisionprogram. In this case, it may be preferable to unlimitedly extract aword whose frequency exceeds the predetermined minimum value.Alternatively, it may be preferable to limit the number of words to beextracted such as up to three per television program. When the limit isprovided, it is desirable to preferentially extract the word having thehighest frequency.

Based on the characteristic words extracted in this manner, the processdetermines the characteristic words that are actually associated withthe television program ID and are stored in the association file 102.Let us consider an example of determining characteristic words at stepS27 when characteristic words are extracted after specified steps andare ready to be processed at the subsequent steps. As the steps proceed,the characteristic words are selected and decreased. In this case, theprocess determines the final characteristic words remaining at the pointof termination of the process at step S26.

There may be another case where characteristic words are extracted afterspecified steps and are not ready to be processed at the subsequentsteps. In other words, words extracted at the respective steps aretemporarily assumed to be characteristic words independently of eachother. Thereafter, the determination process at step S27 determines thefinal characteristic words. In this case, there are some possiblesolutions. One solution is to assume all words extracted at the steps tobe the final characteristic words. Another solution is to determine thespecified number of characteristic words out of those extracted at thesteps. In this case, the characteristic words are determined randomly orbased on a specific rule such as selecting words each consisting of upto three characters. Still another solution is to determine thecharacteristic words that are extracted more than once out of all thewords extracted at the steps so far.

Any determination techniques may be embodied. It just needs to provide ascheme that extracts words suited for the system and deserved to becharacteristic words supplied to the audience. The synonym dictionary104 is appropriately referenced at each step so as to prevent wordshaving the same meaning from being selected and to perform the processbased on one unique word.

According to the description with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 12,the process includes a plurality of extraction processes: the extractionbased on specific words at step S24; the extraction based on keywords atstep S25; the extraction based on the frequency detection at step S26;and the extraction based on the statement analysis requiring extractionsas needed. Only one of these extraction processes may be used toimplement the characteristic word extraction process. Alternatively, twoor three extraction processes may be used to implement thecharacteristic word extraction process.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the server 2 extracts characteristicwords. Further, an administrator of the server 2 may providecharacteristic words for each television program. In this case, theadministrator provides words representing the television programcharacteristics by referring to the television program contents includedin the EPG.

Instead of the administrator of the server 2, an EPG distributor mayprovides characteristic words. In this case, the EPG itself containsdata related to the characteristic words. That is to say, theassociation file 102 and the characteristic word file 103 are includedin the EPG and are distributed together.

The process proceeds to step S14 in FIG. 11 when extracting anddetermining the characteristic words, or when receiving data concerningthe characteristic words. At step S14, the association file 102 isgenerated and is stored in the storage section 18. The association filegeneration section 115 (FIG. 10) performs the process at step S14. Theassociation file generation section 115 associates a characteristic wordwith a television program ID. The characteristic word is extracted anddetermined by the characteristic word extraction section 113. Thetelevision program ID corresponds to the television program content forwhich the characteristic word is extracted. The television program ID isextracted from the television program information generated by thetelevision program information file generation section 112.

The association file generation section 115 generates the associationfile 102 comprising IDs and characteristic words associated with eachother. While the association file 102 is generated, the characteristicword file generation section 116 generates the characteristic word file103 at step S15.

The characteristic word file generation section 116 sequentially storescharacteristic words output from the characteristic word extractionsection 113 in the form of the characteristic word file 103. Whensequentially storing characteristic words, the characteristic word filegeneration section 116 determines whether or not a suppliedcharacteristic word is already found in the already stored words. Thecharacteristic word file generation section 116 stores thecharacteristic word only when determining that the word is not storedyet. This can prevent the same word from being stored more than once inthe characteristic word file 103.

The characteristic word file generation section 116 stores the storedcharacteristic words as the characteristic word file 103 in the storagesection 18. This is performed when the characteristic word extractionsection 113 stops supplying data for characteristic words, i.e., uponcompletion of the process for data included in the received EPG.

Referring now to the flowchart in FIG. 13, the following describes aprocess using the file generated in this manner, specifically, a processof searching for television programs the audience wants to watch andlisten to. At step S41, the recording/reproducing apparatus 3 determineswhether or not it is set to search mode. The recording/reproducingapparatus 3 enables the search mode by receiving a signal output fromthe remote controller 71 (FIG. 5) when its search key 73 is operated.

The audience enables the search mode to search for a television programintended for watching and listening. The description here presents anexample of the search mode to use characteristic words for search.Further, available search modes allow a search by genres, a search byusing the EPG as is, and the like. It is desirable to provide a schemethat permits the audience to select these modes. When a plurality ofsearch modes are enabled, one of them also includes the search modebased on characteristic words. At step S41, the process determineswhether or not that search mode is selected.

When it is determined that the search mode based on characteristic wordsis selected, the process proceeds to step S42. The recording/reproducingapparatus 3 issues an instruction to the server 2 connected to thenetwork 1 so as to supply the characteristic word file 103. Whenreceiving the instruction, the server 2 reads the characteristic wordfile 103 from the storage section 18 (FIG. 6) at step S31. The serverthen transmits the characteristic word file 103 to therecording/reproducing apparatus 3 that issued the instruction.

At step S43, the recording/reproducing apparatus 3 starts control so asto allow the television receiver 4 to display characteristic wordsincluded in the received characteristic word file 103. While therecording/reproducing apparatus 3 starts the control of displayingcharacteristic words, the television receiver 4 uses the display section62 to display the characteristic words at step S51.

FIGS. 14 and 15 show examples of displaying characteristic words. In theexample of FIG. 14, the display section 62 of the television receiver 4displays only characteristic words. That is to say, when the search modeis enabled, the screen displayed at that point changes to another screendisplaying only characteristic words. A cursor 131 is positioned to oneof characteristic words displayed. FIG. 14 shows that the cursor 131 ispositioned to a characteristic word “sweetfish”.

The cursor 131 may be formed in a graphic symbol such as a quadrangleenclosing the characteristic word. Alternatively, the cursor 131 may bedisplayed in such a manner as changing or inverting the color of only aword where the cursor 131 is positioned so as to distinguish the focusedword from the other words. The audience can move the cursor 131 to anintended word by operating the arrow key 74 of the remote controller 71.

When the cursor 131 is positioned to an intended word, the audience canselect that word to be used for the television program search. To dothis, the audience performs a specified operation such as operating thesearch key 73 or a submit key (not shown). Such operation ispredetermined to issue a determination instruction.

FIG. 15 is another example of displaying characteristic words. In theexample of FIG. 15, a currently broadcast television program isdisplayed. That is to say, the video displayed at that point remainsbeing displayed. A telop display section 141 is displayed over thescreen for the television program. The telop display section 141sequentially displays characteristic words. The characteristic words aresequentially displayed so that they scroll from the right to the left inFIG. 15.

The cursor 131 can be also positioned to a characteristic word displayedin the telop display section 141. The audience can move the cursor 131to an intended characteristic word. Alternatively, the cursor 131 can befixed to the center of the telop display section 141. While thecharacteristic words are sequentially displayed, a characteristic wordreaching the center becomes selectable. When the selectable word is anintended one, the audience can perform a specified operation to selectthat word to be used for the television program search.

The description here assumes that the display section 62 of thetelevision receiver 4 displays characteristic words. Further, thedisplay section 54 of the recording/reproducing apparatus 3 may displaycharacteristic words. When the display section 54 of therecording/reproducing apparatus 3 displays characteristic words, thedisplay section 54 may display characteristic words in the same manneras the telop display section 141 as shown in FIG. 15, for example.

Further, the remote controller 71 may be provided with a display section(not shown) comprising a relatively large LCD. In this case, the displaysection may display characteristic words.

There may be provided a scheme that allows the audience to select onlyone characteristic word or a plurality of characteristic words. Whenthere is provided the scheme that allows the audience to select aplurality of characteristic words, the audience selects words using theabove-mentioned operations. The selected words can be displayed in anupper part of the display section 62 so as to be distinguished from theother selectable characteristic words. Let us assume that the audienceselects a plurality of words and determines to select no more words. Inthis case, the scheme allows a specified operation such as operating thesubmit key (not shown) to finalize the selection.

Let us consider that the audience selects an intended word from thedisplayed characteristic words. At step S52, the information about theselected characteristic word is output to the recording/reproducingapparatus 3. At step S44, the recording/reproducing apparatus 3 receivesthe information about the selected characteristic word and transfers theinformation to the server 2 via the network 1.

At step S32, the server 2 searches the association file 102 based on thereceived information about the characteristic word. The server 2 thenreads an ID of the television program associated with the characteristicword. For example, when the audience selects a word “sweetfish”,searching the association file 102 reads the television program ID thatspecifies the word “sweetfish” as a characteristic word. In this case, aplurality of IDs may be read.

When the ID is read from the association file 102, searching thetelevision program information file 101 reads television programinformation associated with the read ID. When a plurality of IDs areread, a plurality of pieces of television program information are read.At step S33, the server 2 generates a television program record. Thetelevision program record is equivalent to an EPG comprising only theread television program information.

The generated television program record is transmitted to therecording/reproducing apparatus 3. At step S45, therecording/reproducing apparatus 3 controls the display of the televisionprogram record. When the recording/reproducing apparatus 3 startscontrolling the display of the television program record, the displaysection 62 of the television receiver 4 displays the television programrecord (step S53). The television program record is displayed like thedisplay examples of characteristic words as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15.That is to say, the television program record may be displayed on theentire screen or in the telop form.

The audience references the displayed television program record anddetermines a television program to watch or listen to. The audiencereserves that television program for watching and listening or recordingas needed. When the television program is reserved for recording, therecording/reproducing apparatus 3 performs the recording setup. Theaudience can use the displayed television program record for therecording setup.

There have been described the recording/reproducing apparatus 3 and thetelevision receiver 4 as separate apparatuses in the above-mentionedembodiment. In addition, the present invention can be applied to anintegrated apparatus. The television receiver 4 may perform theprocesses to be performed by the recording/reproducing apparatus 3 inthe above-mentioned description. Further, apparatuses such as a set-topbox (STB) and a tuner may perform the above-mentioned processes to beperformed by the recording/reproducing apparatus 3 and the televisionreceiver 4.

According to the embodiment, characteristic words are provided for theaudience to retrieve a television program intended for watching andlistening. The characteristic words are extracted from the informationabout the television program and are given limitations during theextraction. Consequently, it becomes possible to prevent the audiencefrom being provided with words not appropriately representing thetelevision program contents.

No characteristic word can be extracted from a television program thathas no words characterizing the television program. It is possible toexclude characterless television programs from the television programsintended for the search by the audience. Accordingly, it is possible toprovide a system that can prevent too much information from beingsupplied to the audience and allow the audience to accurately, easily,and efficiently search for television programs.

According to the embodiment, the one server 2 not only extracts andstores characteristic words, but also extracts television programinformation corresponding to the characteristic word selected by therecording/reproducing apparatus 3. However, the present invention is notlimited to this configuration. For example, a second server may beprovided in addition to the first server 2 that extracts and storescharacteristic words, and transmits the characteristic word file to therecording/reproducing apparatus 3. According to this configuration, thesecond server follows a selection result from the recording/reproducingapparatus 3 and extracts television program information corresponding tothe selected characteristic word.

In this case, like the above-mentioned embodiment, therecording/reproducing apparatus 3 receives the characteristic word filecreated by the first server 2, presents characteristic words included inthe file to a user for the purpose of selection, and transmits theinformation concerning the selection result to the second server. Thesecond server extracts television program information corresponding tothe characteristic word selected by the user using therecording/reproducing apparatus 3. The second server then transmits theextracted television program information to the recording/reproducingapparatus 3.

A series of the above-mentioned processes can be implemented not only bythe hardware having the corresponding functions, but also by thesoftware. When the software is used to perform the series of processes,software programs constituting the software are installed in a computerfrom recording media. The computer may be built in the special hardware.Alternatively, the computer may be, for example, a general-purposepersonal computer where various programs can be installed to performvarious functions.

As shown in FIG. 2, recording media are configured independently of thepersonal computer (e.g., the server 2 in this case). The recording mediainclude, for example, package media that record software programs andare distributed to supply the software programs to users. The packagemedia comprise: the magnetic disk 31 (including flexible disks); theoptical disk 32 including CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory) and DVD(Digital Versatile Disc); the magnetic optical disk 33 including MD(Mini-Disc, registered trademark); and the semiconductor memory 34. Inaddition, the recording media are also preinstalled in the computer tobe supplied to users and store the software programs. In this case, therecording media comprise the ROM 12 and a hard disk including thestorage section 18.

In this specification, the steps describe the software programs suppliedfrom the recording media and include chronological processes inaccordance with the described sequences. Furthermore, the steps alsoinclude processes that are not performed chronologically, butconcurrently or individually.

In the specification, the system represents the entire apparatus thatcomprises a plurality of apparatuses.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to the first information processing apparatus, the method, andthe software program of the present invention, the apparatus extractscharacteristic words representing the television program characteristicfrom the television program information including information about thetelevision program contents. The apparatus creates a file from theextracted characteristic words and supplies it to the other apparatuses.The apparatus may receive information about a given characteristic wordselected from the file of characteristic words. In this case, theapparatus provides the other apparatuses with the television programinformation about a television program corresponding to the selectedcharacteristic word. It is possible to provide the scheme capable ofallowing users to easily search for a television program intended forwatching and listening and information about the television program.

Further, according to the second information processing apparatus, themethod, and the software program of the present invention, the apparatusacquires television program IDs for identifying respective televisionprograms and television program information including the informationassociated with the television program contents. The apparatus extractscharacteristic words representing the television program characteristicfrom the television program information. The apparatus creates a filefrom the extracted characteristic words, supplies it to the otherapparatuses, and associates the characteristic words with the televisionprogram IDs. The apparatus may receive information about a givencharacteristic word selected from the file of characteristic words. Inthis case, the apparatus provides the other apparatuses with thetelevision program information corresponding to the television programID associated with the selected characteristic word. It is possible toprovide the scheme capable of allowing users to easily search for atelevision program intended for watching and listening and informationabout the television program.

Moreover, according to the third information processing apparatus, themethod, and the software program of the present invention, the apparatusreceives a file including the information about characteristic wordsrepresenting the television program characteristic. The apparatustransmits information about the user-selected characteristic words outof those included in the file to the other apparatuses. As a result ofthe transmission, the apparatus receives the television program aboutthe television program from the other apparatuses. It is possible toprovide the scheme capable of allowing users to easily search for atelevision program intended for watching and listening and informationabout the television program.

1. An information processing system, comprising: a server programmed togenerate a characteristic word file containing a plurality ofcharacteristic words extracted from each of a plurality of televisionprogram information which includes information concerning respectivetelevision programs, each of the plurality of characteristic words beingincluded in the plurality of television program information, and each ofthe plurality of characteristic words being extracted by analyzingcontents of each of the plurality of television program information,wherein each of the plurality of television program information includesa title, a separate television program description, and a genre, andeach characteristic word is extracted by analyzing each of the title,the entire television program description, and the genre of therespective television program information; and an information processingapparatus including: an interface programmed to receive thecharacteristic word file containing the plurality of characteristicwords extracted from each of the plurality of television programinformation; a display section configured to display the plurality ofcharacteristic words and to change a color of a displayed one of theplurality of characteristic words relative to a color of an otherdisplayed one of the plurality of characteristic words; and acommunication section that allows a user to select the displayed one ofthe plurality of characteristic words, wherein the interface is furtherprogrammed to transmit information about the displayed one of theplurality of characteristic words selected by the user to the serverupon the selection, and is configured to receive television programinformation about one of the television programs from the server inresponse to the transmitted information about the displayed one of theplurality of characteristic words selected by the user.
 2. Theinformation processing system according to claim 1, wherein theinterface receives the characteristic word file containing the pluralityof characteristic words from the server.
 3. The information processingsystem according to claim 1, wherein the display section is furtherconfigured to display only the plurality of characteristic words, when asearch mode is enabled.
 4. The information processing system accordingto claim 1, wherein the display section is further configured to displaythe displayed one of the plurality of characteristic words in aninverted color relative to the other displayed one of the plurality ofcharacteristic words.
 5. The information processing system according toclaim 1, wherein the display section is further configured to displaythe displayed one of the plurality of characteristic words in an upperpart of the display section relative to the other displayed one of theplurality of the characteristic words.
 6. An information processingmethod implemented by an information processing system including aserver and a display apparatus, comprising: generating, at the server, acharacteristic word file containing a plurality of characteristic wordsextracted from each of a plurality of television program informationwhich includes information concerning respective television programs,each of the plurality of characteristic words being included in theplurality of television program information, and each of the pluralityof characteristic words being extracted by analyzing contents of each ofthe plurality of television program information, wherein each of theplurality of television program information includes a title, a separatetelevision program description, and a genre, and each characteristicword is extracted by analyzing each of the title, the entire televisionprogram description, and the genre of the respective television programinformation; controlling, at the display apparatus, a reception of thecharacteristic word file containing the plurality of characteristicwords extracted from each of the plurality of television programinformation; displaying, with the display apparatus, the plurality ofcharacteristic words and changing a color of a displayed one of theplurality of characteristic words relative to a color of an otherdisplayed one of the plurality of characteristic words; allowing a userto select one of the plurality of characteristic words displayed;controlling a transmission of information about the displayed one of theplurality of characteristic words selected by the user to the serverupon the selection; and controlling a reception of television programinformation about one of the television programs from the server inresponse to the transmission of the information about the displayed oneof the plurality of characteristic words selected by the user.
 7. Theinformation processing method according to claim 6, wherein, in thecontrolling the reception of the characteristic word file containing theplurality of characteristic words, the information about the pluralityof characteristic words is received from the server.
 8. The informationprocessing method according to claim 6, further comprising: displaying,with the display apparatus, only the plurality of characteristic words,when a search mode is enabled.
 9. The information processing methodaccording to claim 6, wherein, in the changing, the display apparatusdisplays the displayed one of the plurality of characteristic words inan inverted color relative to the other displayed one of the pluralityof characteristic words.
 10. The information processing method accordingto claim 6, further comprising: displaying the displayed one of theplurality of characteristic words in an upper part of the displayapparatus relative to the other displayed one of the plurality ofcharacteristic words.
 11. A computer-readable, non-transitory storagemedia encoded with computer executable instructions, wherein theinstructions, when executed by at least one processing unit, cause theat least one processing unit to perform a method comprising: generatinga characteristic word file containing a plurality of characteristicwords extracted from each of a plurality of television programinformation which includes information concerning respective televisionprograms, each of the plurality of characteristic words being includedin the plurality of television program information, and each of theplurality of characteristic words being extracted by analyzing contentsof each of the plurality of television program information, wherein eachof the plurality of television program information includes a title, aseparate television program description, and a genre, and eachcharacteristic word is extracted by analyzing each of the title, theentire television program description, and the genre of the respectivetelevision program information; controlling a reception of thecharacteristic word file containing the plurality of characteristicwords extracted from each of the plurality of television programinformation; controlling a display section to display the plurality ofcharacteristic words and changing a color of a displayed one of theplurality of characteristic words relative to a color of an otherdisplayed one of the plurality of characteristic words; allowing a userto select one of the plurality of characteristic words displayed;controlling a transmission of information about the displayed one of theplurality of characteristic words selected by the user upon theselection; and controlling a reception of television program informationabout one of the television programs in response to the transmission ofthe information about the displayed one of the plurality ofcharacteristic words selected by the user.
 12. The computer-readable,non-transitory storage media according to claim 11, wherein theinstructions cause the at least one processing unit to control thedisplay section to display only the plurality of characteristic words,when a search mode is enabled.
 13. The computer-readable, non-transitorystorage media according to claim 11, wherein the instructions cause theat least one processing unit to control the display section to displaythe displayed one of the plurality of characteristic words in aninverted color relative to the other displayed one of the plurality ofcharacteristic words.
 14. The computer-readable, non-transitory storagemedia according to claim 11, wherein the instructions cause the at leastone processing unit to control the display section to display thedisplayed one of the plurality of characteristic words in an upper partof the display section relative to the other displayed one of theplurality of characteristic words.
 15. The information processing methodaccording to claim 6, wherein the characteristic word file is created byanalyzing the plurality of television program information which furtherincludes a plurality of television program IDs which each identify arespective television program information, wherein each saidcharacteristic word is a word that represents a characteristic of one ofthe respective television programs.
 16. The information processingmethod according to claim 15, wherein the server creates an associationfile containing the plurality of determined characteristic words andassociates each of the plurality of determined characteristic words witha respective television program ID of the television program informationcorresponding to said characteristic word, receives the informationabout the displayed one of the plurality of characteristic wordsselected by the user from the interface, identifies a respectivetelevision program ID associated with the received information about thedisplayed one of the plurality of characteristic words selected by theuser by comparing the received information about the displayed one ofthe plurality of characteristic words with the plurality of determinedcharacteristic words contained in the association file, and transmitstelevision program information concerning a respective televisionprogram corresponding to said identified respective television programID.
 17. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the plurality of characteristic words are extracted by furtheranalyzing sentences in the television program information, excludingcertain types of words, dividing the remaining sentences into words, andextracting the characteristic words from the divided words based on apredetermined scheme.